Two-wheeled vehicle with frame which can be folded up by actuation control and transmission means

ABSTRACT

Foldable two-wheeled vehicle comprising a frame in which there is provided at least one central body ( 10 ), at least one group ( 20 ) supporting the rear wheel ( 21 ), at least one group ( 60 ) supporting the front wheel ( 61 ) and at least one group ( 50 ) for steering the front wheel ( 61 ), which are respectively hingeably joined to the central body ( 10 ), there being provided means for controlling ( 70 ) and actuating (L 72 ,L 73 ,L 74 , L 75 ,L 76 ) the rotation of groups ( 20,50,60 ) around the central body ( 10 ), so as to close/open the frame from an open configuration suitable for use to a closed configuration suitable for transportation and vice versa.

DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to a two-wheeled vehicle provided with aframe which can be folded up by means of associated means for control ofthe actuation and transmission.

It is known that in the production of frames for two-wheeled vehicles,in particular bicycles, the established technology consists in themanufacture of a frame of the traditional type formed by tubes which aremade of various materials and welded together.

These frames, although they have managed to achieve a very high ratio interms of their own weight against the carrying weight, are such,however, that neither their weight nor their overall dimensions can befurther reduced to a significant degree. It is also known that there hasalways been a need to obtain a folding frame which is such that theoverall dimensions can be reduced so as to allow easier transportationby the user both over one's shoulder and on-board other vehicles. Therehave been numerous designs of bicycles where folding has been based onthe division of the frame into two sections, essentially a front sectionand a rear section, which can be rotated about a central hinging axisparallel to a longitudinal plane of symmetry of the bicycle which isessentially vertical and passes through the two wheels when they arealigned with one another.

A frame for two-wheeled vehicles is also known from IT-1,248,931 in thename of the same Proprietor, said frame consisting of a reticularstructure forming functional sections such as the steering, the pedalgroup, the saddle group and the forks for the wheels.

The technical problem which is posed, therefore, is that of providing aframe for two-wheeled vehicles such as bicycles, mopeds and the like,which is low-weight, functionally equivalent to a normal frame and canbe folded up into its smallest size and opened out into its normal sizethrough an automatic and repeatable sequence of displacements withoutthe need for co-ordination of the operations by the user. Within thescope of this problem, a further requirement is that the frame should beeasy and inexpensive to produce industrially and to assemble.

These technical problems are solved according to the present inventionby a foldable two-wheeled vehicle comprising a frame in which there isprovided at least one central body, at least one group supporting therear wheel, at least one group supporting the front wheel and at leastone group for steering the front wheel, which are respectively hingeablyjoined to the said central body which comprises means for controllingand actuating the rotation of said groups around said central body, soas to cause automatically the correct sequence of displacement from anopen configuration suitable for use to a closed configuration suitablefor transportation and vice versa.

Further details may be obtained from the following description of anon-limiting example of embodiment of the invention provided withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a bicycle with a frame according tothe invention in the condition where it is totally open, ready fornormal use;

FIG. 2 shows a cross-section along a longitudinal plane of symmetry ofthe bicycle illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the bicycle according to theinvention, similar to that of FIG. 2, with the frame half-folded; and

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view, similar to that of FIG. 2, with theframe fully folded.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the frame for two-wheeled vehicles accordingto the invention is composed of a central body 10 formed by two parallelbars 11, the respective opposite ends of which are connected together inthe transverse direction by pins 13.

Said pins 13 have also pivotably mounted on them corresponding gussets12 a and 12 b, i.e. front gussets and rear gussets, respectively, whichare arranged on opposite sides and on the outside of the said bars 11.

A pair of struts P15 for connecting the section 10 to a steering bar 50are also connected to the front gussets 12 a.

A further pair of struts P16 connects a group 60 forming the fork of thefront wheel 61 to a lever 70 which is pivotably mounted between the bars11 as described in detail further below. The end of said struts P16opposite to the end fastened to the front fork is designed to engageinto a corresponding seat 13 a of the pin 13 so as to cause lockingthereof.

The handlebar 51 is joined to one end 50 a of the steering bar 50 bymeans of associated transverse pins, while the other end 50 b of thesteering bar is joined, by means of a pin 61, to the fork 60 of thewheel 61.

The opposite ends of a tie-rod T56 are respectively pivotably mounted onthe steering bar 50 and the fork 60, so as to connect the two parts.

The fork 20 of the rear wheel 21 is pivotably mounted on the rear pin13.

Two struts P41 are also pivotably mounted on said gussets 12 b, thesaddle 42 being mounted on the top end of said struts by means of a pin42 a.

The same pin 42 a of the saddle also has pivotably mounted on it one endof a connecting rod 43, the other end of which is joined to aconnecting-rod pin 43 a, with which a tie-rod T41 connecting the saddlegroup to the bar 11 of the group 10 and a tie-rod T42 connecting thesaddle group to the rear fork are also hinged; the strut P41 and thetie-rod T42 are connected together by a lever 100 for coordinating therelative movement.

The rear fork 20 and the front fork 60 have, arranged between them,pairs of tie-rods T23 and T63 for supporting the pedal group 30comprising a gear 31 from which the pedals 32 extend and which isrotatable by means of a bracket 33 about the rear pin 13, said gear 31being connected to the pinion 22 of the rear wheel by means of atransmission 34 and a belt 35.

The load-bearing structure of the bicycle is completed by furthertie-rods T14 and T15 arranged between the central section 10 and thesaddle group 40 and the steering group 50, respectively.

As illustrated in greater detail in the cross-section of FIG. 2, thesaid lever 70 is arranged inside the central group 10 and rotates abouta fixed pin 71 arranged transversely with respect to the two bars 11.

Further pairs of rods are pivotably mounted on the opposite ends 70 aand 70 b of the lever 70, i.e.:

L76 connecting the end 70 a to the fork 60 of the front wheel 61;

L75 connecting the lever 70 to the strut P15 of the steering group 50;

L73 connecting the end 70 b of the lever 70 to the bracket 30 of thepedal group 30;

L72 connecting the end 70 b of the lever 70 to the rear fork 20;

L74 connecting the end 70 b of the lever 70 to the struts P41 of thegroup 40 supporting the saddle 42.

Said rods, as will emerge more clearly below, allow automatic folding ofthe frame into a totally closed configuration illustrated in FIG. 4 tobe obtained.

In the totally open position ready for use, the bicycle is kept lockedby means of a lever 200 designed to cause reaction of the strut P16against the seat 13 a of the front pin 13 which ensures locking of allthe component parts of the bicycle.

More in detail and with reference to FIG. 3, the frame is operated inthe following manner:

starting from a totally open position illustrated in FIG. 1, the handle200 is rotated so as to release the tie-rods T41 from the rear fork 20and eliminate the locking force on the struts P16 which are now free todisengage from the pin 13 of the central group 10; and

the control lever 70 is operated, causing it to rotate in ananti-clockwise direction about the pin 71;

during its rotation, the lever 70 causes rotation also of all the rodsL72, L73, L74, L76 which, reacting against the respective partsconnected to them, cause closing of the frame into the configurationshown in FIG. 4.

The pedals may be folded equally well at the start or at the end of theclosing sequence so as to eliminate the associated transverse volumewhich is occupied.

It must be emphasized that all the moving parts rotate substantiallysimultaneously, but at different speeds so as to cause automatically thecorrect sequence of displacements which allow closing of the framewithout relative interference.

All the rotations of the individual moving parts occur moreover inplanes which are substantially parallel to the longitudinal plane ofsymmetry of the frame and about pins substantially perpendicular to saidplane.

It is therefore obvious how the combination consisting of the frame andthe means for rotational actuation of the individual parts allows easy,automatic and repeatable closure of the vehicle according to theinvention without the need for complicated operations by the user.

In addition to this, it is also envisaged that said control means 70 foropening/closing thereof may be servo-assisted by corresponding means ofthe elastic or electromechanical type.

What is claimed is:
 1. Foldable two-wheeled vehicle having a front andrear wheel comprising: a frame in which there is provided at least onecentral body; at least a supporting group of the rear wheel; at least asupporting group of the front wheel; at least a steering group for thefront wheel, said groups being hingeably joined to the said centralbody; and a single means for controlling and actuating the rotation ofsaid groups around said central body, so as to automatically andsimultaneously cause the correct sequence of displacement of said groupsfrom an open configuration, suitable for use, to a closed configurationsuitable for transportation, and vice versa.
 2. Vehicle according toclaim 1, wherein said groups of the frame are hingeably joined to saidcentral body by pins, said pins being arranged in a directionsubstantially perpendicular with respect to a longitudinal plane ofsymmetry of the vehicle.
 3. Vehicle according to claim 2 wherein saidpins are arranged transversely with respect to a longitudinal plane ofsymmetry of the vehicle.
 4. Vehicle according to claim 1, wherein saidmeans for controlling and actuating the rotation of said groups consistsof a control lever hingeably mounted on a fixed pin integral with saidcentral body.
 5. Vehicle according to claim 3, wherein at least one pairof said pins has an external seat designed to engage with acorresponding end of a pair of struts arranged between the groupsupporting the front wheel and the said control means.
 6. Vehicleaccording to claim 1, wherein said means for actuating the rotationalmovements of the various groups consist of transmission rods, at leastone end of which is pivotably mounted on said control means.
 7. Vehicleaccording to claim 4, wherein said lever has hingeably mounted on it thefirst ends of two transmission rods, the other ends of which arerespectively hingeably joined to the group supporting the front wheeland to the steering group.
 8. Vehicle according to claim 4, wherein saidlever has pivotably mounted on it a first end of a transmission rod, theother end of which is pivotably joined to the group supporting the rearwheel.
 9. Vehicle according to claim 3, wherein a pair of strutsarranged between the central section and the steering group isrotationally connected to said pins in the front.
 10. Vehicle accordingto claim 1, wherein the steering group and the group supporting thefront wheel are pivotably joined together and connected by a tie-rod forcoordinating the relative movement.
 11. Vehicle according to claim 1,further comprising a group supporting a saddle and a group actuating oneof the two wheels.
 12. Vehicle according to claim 11, wherein said groupsupporting the saddle consists of a pair of struts, one end of which ispivotably joined to the saddle by means of a pin and the other end ofwhich is pivotably mounted on the central body.
 13. Vehicle according toclaim 12, wherein said pin of the saddle has pivotably mounted on it thefirst end of a connecting rod, the other end of which is connected to atie-rod arranged between the saddle group and the supporting group ofthe rear wheel.
 14. Vehicle according to claim 13, wherein the end ofsaid tie-rod connected to the supporting group of the rear wheel can bereleased therefrom by means of a release lever.
 15. Vehicle according toclaim 11, wherein tie-rods are arranged between said saddle group andthe central body.
 16. Vehicle according to claim 12, wherein saidcontrol means has pivotably mounted on it a first end of a transmissionrod, the other end of which is pivotably joined to the strut of thegroup supporting the saddle.
 17. Vehicle according to claim 11, whereinsaid group actuating one of the two wheels is pivotably mounted on atransverse pin of the central body.
 18. Vehicle according to claim 11,wherein tie-rods are arranged between said actuating group and the twogroups supporting the two front and rear wheels.
 19. Vehicle accordingto claim 6, wherein said control means has pivotably joined to it thefirst ends of transmission rods, the other ends of which arerespectively pivotably joined to the supporting group of the rear wheeland to the group supporting the actuating means.
 20. Vehicle accordingto claim 11, characterized in that said means for actuating the vehicleconsist of a pedal group.
 21. Vehicle according to claim 1,characterized in that it is a bicycle.
 22. Vehicle according to claim 1,characterized In that it is a motorcycle.
 23. Vehicle according to claim1, characterized in that said means for controlling opening/closingthereof are servo-assisted.